Philly Support Addresses Education Inequality in Israel

Philly Support Addresses Education Inequality in Israel

About 15 years ago on a chairlift in Vail, Colo., Haim Dahan asked his longtime friend Paul Silberberg to be the chairman of his nonprofit, Friends of Ofanim.

“We were getting toward the top, and he wasn’t going to let me off until I agreed to be the chairperson. … I just wanted to survive,” Silberberg said with a laugh. “I love him, and I loved the idea, and I love Israel … so I said yes.”

Friends of Ofanim is the philanthropy that supports Ofanim, which Dahan started to provide education to students, third through sixth grade, who live on the periphery of Israel. Mentors, who are Israeli undergraduate and graduate students, teach classes such as robotics, animation and health. STEAM skills are particularly important for children to be successful in a country like Israel that lacks natural resources, Dahan said.